Joe Manganiello Turns up the Heat

True Blood star Joe Manganiello—and his abs—hits the cover for the July/August issue of Men's Health.

Manganiello has scored roles alongside Channing Tatum (Magic Mike) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (next January's Ten), but his road to success had its twists and turns.

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The Lost Years

After performing in 2002's Spider-Man, Manganiello lost his house, clothes, car, furniture, and agents. He was smoking two packs of cigarettes and drinking a bottle of whiskey a day. He took odd jobs—roadie, delivery man, construction worker—before he kicked his bad habits and got back to acting.

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A New Hope

When the opportunity to join the cast of True Blood presented itself, Manganiello knew it was the break he'd been waiting for. "All the money I was paid as a guest star that year—which was not a lot, after I'd paid out my expenses—I spent on training," he says. Ron Mathews, who transformed musical-theater star Hugh Jackman into Wolverine, helped Manganiello whittle his linebacker-size body—at 6'5", he weighed 240 pounds—down to mere Greek-god proportions. He worked out twice a day, six days a week, for eight weeks before the shirt came off on camera.

Now, you can't catch the guy with his shirt on, and for good reason. He landed the top spot in our 2013 Best Summer Bodies countdown. As for his career, he's not going anywhere.

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